Ryan Blaney claimed his second straight win and Tyler Reddick overcame the damage from a fall and secured the final playoff spot at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night.
Blaney won when the extra warning reached the checkered flag and ended the race five laps over the planned distance.
Caution was needed after Daniel Suarez was turned into Kevin Harvick, which triggered a multiple car accident. Austin Dillon was among the rallied, finishing his final attempt to beat Reddick, his teammate at Richard Childress Racing, to the final playoff spot.
“Playoffs, we’re coming,” Reddick said on his team’s radio.
MORE: Race results, driver points
Blaney’s win was his third this season. He also won in Michigan last week.
“You never know how the ending will play out,” Blaney told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider. “Winning at Daytona is so cool. … man, it’s been two fun weeks. “
Chris Buescher, who had to win to reach the playoffs, finished second. Bubba Wallace finished third. Ryan Newman finished fourth. Ryan Preece finished fifth. Reddick finished sixth.
Kyle Larson finished in 21st place and won the regular season title.
“Our team worked so hard in the regular season,” Larson told NBC Sports.
Blaney will move into the playoffs as No. 2.
Overtime was suspended when caution came out four laps from the scheduled end when Chase Elliott, who was in the lead and was hit from behind by Matt DiBenedetto after contact, was hit. The crash captured Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch, among others.
The intensity increased in the last 20 laps. Martin Truex Jr. was spun 14 laps from its scheduled end when the cars piled up in front of him. The contact sent him to William Byron and back again. Truex ‘car was then hit by Tyler Reddick, who started the race and finished in the final playoff spot. Reddick’s car started smoking, but the team told him to keep driving after checking the damage to the pit lane. Reddick told his team that his oil pressure, water pressure, and fuel pressure were fine.
The race was canceled 13 laps before the planned end due to the 10 car crash.
LEVEL 1 WINNER: Chase Elliott
LEVEL 2 WINNER: Joey Logano
WHO had a good race: Chris Buescher finished the season’s best runner-up just hours after Roush Fenway Racing announced that sponsor Fifth Third Bank had signed a multi-year extension. Buescher told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider about the race: “It hurts. Hat stands out very much. … Missing that playoff spot by one point is a tough end to the day. ”… Bubba Wallace took a season-best third place. … Justin Haley finished a season high seventh a few hours after winning the Xfinity race at Daytona. … BJ McLeod finished 10th in his career. His best result so far was 19th place at the Daytona 500 2019.… Josh Bilicki finished 11th in his career. His best result so far was 18th place on the Indianapolis street circuit earlier this month.
WHO had a bad race: Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell finished last in the 40-car field after blowing an engine early. This came after issues with the pre-race inspection that resulted in NASCAR kicking out McDowell’s crew chief Drew Blickensderfer.
NEXT: The playoffs begin September 5 with the Southern 500 (6pm ET on NBCSN).